Writing | Editing | Research
This scanned, uploaded zine would not have existed without Safdar Ahmed, an inspiring, emotive man who ran a workshop at the 2014 National Young Writers' Festival in Newcastle, NSW, Australia. I made it in the second hour of the two-hour session using this technique, which Safdar taught us, and its unselfconsciousness (a quality my writing usually … Continue reading My weird fish (aka my first ever zine) ::
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FbqBXkmukr4 Every sound in this song is ideal. The final minute alone is invaluable. And whoever made this video decided a fitting image to accompany this music would be a man crawling around in a field cramming mushrooms into his mouth and then blissing out really, really hard. Found money.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1e8t908XhVI A cover of the Allen Toussaint original, to which I was introduced by the inestimably valuable and brilliant HBO show Treme. Give this song two or three goes at the plate for it to catch up with you.
... repetitive music provides an acknowledgment, a warning, a defense -- or even just an aesthetic thrill -- in the face of myriad repetitive relationships that, in late-capitalist consumer society, we must all face over and over (and over and over ...). We repeated ourselves into this culture. We might be able to repeat ourselves out.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j-KulvW2TUQ I have been trying not to post this song ever since I heard a pre-release stream of it in March. It is too obviously enlivening; I was sure I'd end up saying something stupid, being too bombastic in my praise. It's like choking on jelly beans.
I believe in roots, in associations, in backgrounds, in personal relationships. I want my music to be of use to people, to please them ... I do not write for posterity.
I can't listen to music too often. It affects your nerves, makes you want to say stupid nice things, and stroke the heads of people who could create such beauty while living in this vile hell.
Art is from the outset naturally not for the people. But one wants to force it to be. Everyone is supposed to have their say. For the new bliss consists of the right to speak: free speech! Oh God!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qWG2dsXV5HI I'm not a huge The Sound of Music fan but silver linings don't get finer than this.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F9w6FKYfcu4 An unhappy, perfect, Australian classic.
I've had three blogs prior to this one. None of them exist today. I designed them for specific purposes and named them accordingly. That was their death knell. When I became disinterested in that purpose or felt constrained, the blog went to the glue factory. So when I started 'Swimming with Elephants', my chief desire … Continue reading Why swim with elephants? ::
[I wrote this "how to" for a group of reviewers currently assigned by Canberra writers organisation Scissors Paper Pen, via their Papercuts program, to the 2014 You Are Here festival. They're reviewing all sorts: theatre, dance, film, panels, music, collaborative projects, so I was general and succinct. It is divided into two sections: "Conduct", covering … Continue reading How to Review Stuff ::
[What follows is my personal opinion and, though it attempts to be impartial, is a subjective retelling of events. I am no longer employed by BMA Magazine, nor do these opinions reflect the opinions of BMA Magazine or its affiliates, including but not limited to the author of the review in question, who is at this … Continue reading Music Journalism vs. Bluejuice’s Jake Stone ::
In the first two minutes of self-declared pariah Kanye West’s sixth album, he has already drawled, ‘I put ma dick in her maaaaaaaouth’. It’s little wonder people mock Kanye, unapologetic, misogynistic, incapable of lyrical or emotional evolution as he is. His one foray into baring his soul (2008’s 808s & Heartbreak) exposed his capacity for … Continue reading Kanye West — Yeezus ::
Music of the type created by London producer Simon Green (aka Bonobo) has become an over-saturated commodity. Chillwave and experimental future bass has been pushed to popular extremes – even Australia finally has its own poster child in Flume. Ten years ago, Green was a pioneer of this sound. In 2010 he pushed it with … Continue reading Bonobo — The North Borders ::
Ashley Thomson 